List of Governors of New Mexico

Number of Governors of New Mexico by party affiliation^{[lower-alpha 1]}

Party	Governors
Democratic	17
Republican	10

The following is a list of the Governors of the state of New Mexico and New Mexico Territory.

Twenty-seven individuals have held the office of governor of New Mexico since the state's admission to the Union in 1912, two of whom—Edwin L. Mechem and Bruce King—served three non-consecutive terms. William C. McDonald, the first governor, took office on January 6, 1912. The current officeholder is Susana Martinez, who took office on January 1, 2011, as the first elected female governor of the state. Governors are limited to two consecutive terms but a former governor is eligible for re-election after an intervening governor's term expires.

Governors

Governors under U.S. military rule

In 1846 the U.S. Army under Stephen W. Kearny invaded and occupied New Mexico. Military governors at times were assisted by civilian governors. The military governors were:

Image	Governor	Took office	Left office	Notes
	General Stephen W. Kearny	August 1846	September 1847	Military
	Colonel Sterling Price	September 1847	10 October 1848	Military
	Lieutenant Colonel John M. Washington	10 October 1848	23 October 1849	Military and civilian.[1]
	Colonel John Munroe	23 October 1849	3 March 1851	Military and civilian[2]

Civilian governors were:

Image	Governor	Took office	Left office	Notes
	Charles Bent	September 1846	19 January 1847	Assassinated in Taos on January 19, 1847.[3]
	Donaciano Vigil	19 January 1847	11 October 1848	Acting to December 1847[4]
	Henry Connelly	June 1850	September 1850	Elected under the "State" constitution, which was nullified by the Compromise of 1850. Prevented from assuming power by John Munroe.

Governors of the Territory of New Mexico

In 1850 New Mexico was organized as a Territory, and James S. Calhoun was appointed the first governor.

Parties

      Democratic       Whig       Republican

#	Picture	Governor	Took office	Left office	Party	Appointing President	Notes
1		James S. Calhoun	3 March 1851	6 May 1852	Whig	Millard Fillmore	[note 1]
2		William Carr Lane	6 May 1852	1853	Whig	Millard Fillmore
3		David Meriwether	1853	1855	Democratic	Franklin Pierce
4		Abraham Rencher	1857	1861	Democratic	James Buchanan
5		Henry Connelly	4 September 1861	6 July 1866	Democratic	Abraham Lincoln	[note 2]
6		Robert Byington Mitchell	6 July 1866	1869	Democratic	Andrew Johnson
7		William Anderson Pile	1869	August 1871	Republican	Ulysses S. Grant
8		Marsh Giddings	August 1871	3 June 1875	Republican	Ulysses S. Grant
—		William G. Ritch	3 June 1875	30 July 1875	Republican	—	Acting
9		Samuel Beach Axtell	30 July 1875	29 September 1878	Republican	Ulysses S. Grant	[note 3]
10		Lewis Wallace	29 September 1878	9 March 1881	Republican	Rutherford B. Hayes
11		Lionel Allen Sheldon	9 March 1881	1885	Republican	James A. Garfield
12		Edmund G. Ross	1885	1889	Democratic	Grover Cleveland
13		L. Bradford Prince	1889	1893	Republican	Benjamin Harrison
14		William Taylor Thornton	1893	1897	Democratic	Grover Cleveland
15		Miguel A. Otero	1897	1906	Republican	William McKinley
16		Herbert James Hagerman	1906	1907	Republican	Theodore Roosevelt
17		George Curry	1907	1 March 1910	Republican	Theodore Roosevelt	[note 4]
18		William J. Mills	1 March 1910	15 January 1912	Republican	William H. Taft
Source[5]

Governors of the State of New Mexico

Democratic (XX)       Republican (XX)
№	Portrait	Governor		Term in office	Time served	Party	Term [note 5]	Previous office	Lieutenant Governor
1			William C. McDonald July 25, 1858 – April 11, 1918 (aged 59)	January 14, 1912     –     January 1, 1917	1815 days	Democratic	1	New Mexico Cattle Sanitary Board (1905-1911)		Ezequiel Cabeza De Baca
							2
							3
2			Ezequiel Cabeza De Baca November 1, 1864 – February 18, 1917 (aged 52)	January 1, 1917     –     February 18, 1917	49 days	Democratic	4	1st Lieutenant Governor of New Mexico (1912-1917)		Washington Lindsey
3			Washington Lindsey December 20, 1862 – April 5, 1926 (aged 63)	February 18, 1917     –     January 1, 1919	683 days	Republican		2nd Lieutenant Governor of New Mexico (1917)	Vacant
4			Octaviano Larrazolo December 7, 1859 – April 7, 1930 (aged 70)	January 1, 1919     –     January 1, 1921	732 days	Republican	5	District Attorney for the Western District of Texas (1890-1894)		Benjamin F. Pankey
5			Merritt C. Mechem 10 October 1870 – 24 May 1946 (aged 75)	January 1, 1921     –     January 1, 1923	731 days	Republican	6	Judge of the Seventh Judicial District (1911-1920)		William H. Duckworth
6			James F. Hinkle October 20, 1864 – March 26, 1951 (aged 86)	January 1, 1923     –     January 1, 1925	732 days	Democratic	7	New Mexico State Senator (1912-1917)		José A. Baca January 1, 1923 - May 1924
									Vacant
7			Arthur T. Hannett February 17, 1884 – March 18, 1966 (aged 82)	January 1, 1925     –     January 1, 1927	731 days	Democratic	8	State Highway Commission (1923-1924)		Edward G. Sargent January 1, 1925 - January 1, 1929
8			Richard C. Dillon June 24, 1877 – January 5, 1966 (aged 88)	January 1, 1927     –     January 1, 1931	1462 days	Republican	9	New Mexico State Senator (1924-1926)
										Hugh B. Woodward January 1, 1929 - July 1929
									Vacant
9			Arthur Seligman June 14, 1873 – September 25, 1933 (aged 60)	January 1, 1931     –     September 25, 1933	999 days	Democratic	10	Mayor of Santa Fe		Andrew W. Hockenhull
10			Andrew W. Hockenhull January 16, 1877 – June 20, 1974 (aged 97)	September 25, 1933     –     January 1, 1935	464 days	Democratic		8th Lieutenant Governor of New Mexico (1931-1933)	Vacant
11			Clyde Tingley January 5, 1882 – December 24, 1960 (aged 78)	January 1, 1935     –     January 1, 1939	1462 days	Democratic	11	Superintendent of the State Highway Department for the Albuquerque district (1925–1926)		Louis Cabeza de Baca 1935-1937
							12			Hiram M. Dow 1937-1939
12			John E. Miles July 28, 1884 – October 7, 1971 (aged 87)	January 1, 1939     –     January 1, 1943	1462 days	Democratic	13	Secretary of the New Mexico State Tax Commission (1925)		James Murray, Sr. 1939-1941
							14			Ceferino Quintana 1941-1943
13			John J. Dempsey June 22, 1879 – March 11, 1958 (aged 78)	January 1, 1943     –     January 1, 1947	1462 days	Democratic	15	U.S. Representative for New Mexico's At-large (1935-1941)		James B. Jones
							16
14			Thomas J. Mabry October 17, 1884 – December 23, 1962 (aged 78)	January 1, 1947     –     January 1, 1951	1462 days	Democratic	17	Chief Justice New Mexico Supreme Court (1939-1946)		Joseph Montoya
							18
15			Edwin L. Mechem July 2, 1912 – November 27, 2002 (aged 90)	January 1, 1951     –     January 1, 1955	1462 days	Republican	19	New Mexico Representative (1947-1948)		Tibo J. Chávez
							20
16			John F. Simms December 18, 1916 – April 11, 1975 (aged 58)	January 1, 1955     –     January 1, 1957	732 days	Democratic	21	New Mexico Representative (1947-1949)		Joseph Montoya January 1, 1957 - April 1957
17			Edwin L. Mechem July 2, 1912 – November 27, 2002 (aged 90)	January 1, 1957     –     January 1, 1959	731 days	Republican	22	15th Governor of New Mexico (1951-1955)
									Vacant
18			John Burroughs April 7, 1907 – May 21, 1978 (aged 71)	January 1, 1959     –     January 1, 1961	732 days	Democratic	23	New Mexico Representative (1957-1959)		Ed V. Mead
19			Edwin L. Mechem July 2, 1912 – November 27, 2002 (aged 90)	January 1, 1961     –     November 30, 1962	699 days	Republican	24	17th Governor of New Mexico (1957-1959)		Tom Bolack
20			Tom Bolack May 18, 1918 – May 20, 1998 (aged 80)	November 30, 1962     –     January 1, 1963	33 days	Republican	25	18th Lieutenant Governor of New Mexico (1961-1962)	Vacant
21			Jack M. Campbell September 10, 1916 – June 14, 1999 (aged 82)	January 1, 1963     –     January 1, 1967	1462 days	Democratic	26	Speaker of the New Mexico House of Representatives (1960-1962)		Mack Easley
							27
22			David Cargo January 13, 1929 – July 5, 2013 (aged 84)	January 1, 1967     –     January 1, 1971	1462 days	Republican	28	New Mexico Representative (1963-1967)		Lee Francis
							29
23			Bruce King April 6, 1924 – November 13, 2009 (aged 85)	January 1, 1971     –     January 1, 1975	1462 days	Democratic	30	Speaker of the New Mexico House of Representatives		Roberto Mondragón
24			Jerry Apodaca October 3, 1934	January 1, 1975     –     January 1, 1979	1462 days	Democratic	31	New Mexico Senator (1966-1974)		Robert E. Ferguson
25			Bruce King April 6, 1924 – November 13, 2009 (aged 85)	January 1, 1979     –     January 1, 1983	1462 days	Democratic	32	23rd Governor of New Mexico (1971-1975)		Roberto Mondragón
26			Toney Anaya April 29, 1941	January 1, 1983     –     January 1, 1987	1462 days	Democratic	33	24th Attorney General of New Mexico (1975-1978)		Robert E. Ferguson
27			Garrey Carruthers August 29, 1939	January 1, 1987     –     January 1, 1991	1462 days	Republican	34	Asst. Secretary of the United States Department of the Interior (1981-1984)		Jack L. Stahl
28			Bruce King April 6, 1924 – November 13, 2009 (aged 85)	January 1, 1991     –     January 1, 1995	1462 days	Democratic	35	25th Governor of New Mexico (1979-1983)		Casey Luna
29			Gary Johnson January 1, 1953	January 1, 1995     –     January 1, 2003	2923 days	Republican	36	None		Walter Dwight Bradley
							37
30			Bill Richardson November 15, 1947	January 1, 2003     –     January 1, 2011	2923 days	Democratic	38	9th United States Secretary of Energy (1998-2001)		Diane Denish
							39
31			Susana Martinez July 14, 1959	January 1, 2011     –     Incumbent	1952 days	Republican	40	District Attorney for the 3rd Judicial District of New Mexico (1997-2011)		John Sánchez
							41

Notes

1. James Calhoun resigned in 1852 to return to his native state of Georgia
2. The territory broke into two, and then three during Connelly's tenure due to the civil war and administrative problems (see: Arizona Territory and Arizona Territory (CSA))
3. Samuel Axtell was suspended by the Secretary of the Interior for misconduct in 1878.
4. George Curry resigned in 1910 to be a framer in the New Mexico Constitutional Convention.
5. Each term for which a governor is elected is listed here; if multiple governors served in a single term, due to resignations, deaths, and the like, then that term will be shared among those governors. If a governor was elected multiple times, then there will be multiple terms listed for that governor.

Other high offices held

This is a table of the higher federal offices and other governorships held by governors. All representatives and senators represented New Mexico. * denotes offices that the governor resigned to take.

Governor	Gubernatorial term	Higher offices held
Octaviano Ambrosio Larrazolo	1919–1921	U.S. Senator
John E. Miles	1939–1943	U.S. Representative
John J. Dempsey	1943–1947	U.S. Representative
Edwin L. Mechem	1951–1955 1957–1959 1961–1962	U.S. Senator*
Bill Richardson	2003–2011	U.S. Representative, U.S. Secretary of Energy, Ambassador to the United Nations

Living former U.S. governors of New Mexico

As of May 2015, there are five former U.S. governors of New Mexico who are currently living at this time, the oldest U.S. governor of New Mexico being Jerry Apodaca (served 1975–1979, born 1934). The most recent U.S. governor of New Mexico to die was David Cargo (served 1967–1971, born 1929), who died on July 5, 2013. The most recently serving U.S. governor of New Mexico to die was Bruce King (served 1971–1975, 1979–1983 and 1991–1995, born 1924), who died on November 13, 2009.

Governor	Gubernatorial term	Date of birth (and age)
Jerry Apodaca	1975–1979	October 3, 1934
Toney Anaya	1983–1987	April 29, 1941
Garrey Carruthers	1987–1991	August 29, 1939
Gary Johnson	1995–2003	January 1, 1953
Bill Richardson	2003–2011	November 15, 1947

Notes

1. Table only includes state governors; 26 people have served as governor, two thrice; the table includes these non-consecutive terms as well.

References

1. Simmons, Marc (November 25, 2011). "Colonel left little mark as governorTrail Dust". The New Mexican. Retrieved 2012-07-10.
2. Clay, Henry; Hay, Melba Porter (1991-03-14). The Papers of Henry Clay. Volume 10: Candidate, Compromiser, Elder Statesman, January 1, 1844-June 29, 1852. University Press of Kentucky. p. 730. ISBN 978-0-8131-0060-9. Retrieved 2012-07-11.
3. Wroth, Wiliam H. (2012). "Bent, Charles". New Mexico State Record Center and Archives. Retrieved 2012-07-10.
4. Weber, David J. (2012). "Vigil, Donaciano". New Mexico State Record Center and Archives. Retrieved 2012-07-10.
5. State of New Mexico (July 2012). Kathryn A. Flynn, ed. 2012 Centennial Blue Book (PDF). Diana J. Duran. Office of the New Mexico Secretary of State. p. 210.